Peninsula’s back roads offer spectacular drives

Press, 30 December 1976, Page 6

Peninsula’s back roads offer spectacular drives

Most people living in Christchurch at some time or another drive over to Akaroa, but that is as far as their acquaintance with Banks Peninsula usually goes. Over 70 years ago a writer in the volume dealing with Canterbury of the “Cyclopedia of New Zealand" (1903) had this to say about the familiarity of people living in Christchurch with the Peninsula: “To anyone who knows Banks Peninsula and the peculiar charm of its scenery, so utterly distinct from anything else in the province, it is always a matter for surprise that the inhabitants of Christchurch take so little interest in it, and that excursions do not run there more frequently.” In 1903, there were regular services by sea from Lyttelton to most of the outer bays and around to Akaroa. Today, many of the jetties in these bays are in desrepair, and to explore the Peninsula from the sea it is necessary to have a boat of one’s own. But the Peninsula is laced by many

miles of back roads which invite leisurely exploration. They offer for people who find the road to Akaroa dangerously frequented and the town itself unpleasantly crowded, the pleasures of placid rural scenes, often dramatic seascapes, and secluded picnic spots, in profusion. This article does no more than suggest some of the possible routes that can be taken to see more of the Peninsula. Anyone intending to venture on to these back roads would be well advised to buy the three sheets of the inch-to-the-mile series which cover the whole peninsula. They give a far better idea of where the roads run, and what their condition is likely to be, than any sketch map or description can do. The key to the back roads on the northern side of the Peninsula, beyond Lyttelton Harbour, are the roads from Purau, over past the Monument (a fine rock crag) at nearly 1500 feet, down to Port Levy, and then on over an even higher hill to Pigeon Bay, the site of one of the earl-

iest European farming settlements in Canterbury. Port Levy can also be reached from Little River by a road which rises to over 2000 feet and which is the only road to touch the “double fence-line”, well-known to Christchurch trampers. The double fence line marks the line of the unbuilt section of the summit road from Hill Top over the summit of Mount Herbert and down to Gebbies Pass. There is no way out of Pigeon Bay except up to the Summit Road above Akaroa Harbour and back to the main Akaroa Highway at Hill Top. From Christchurch to Purau, Port Levy, Pigeon Bay, and back to Christchurch through Hill Top, would be quite enough for one day’s drive.

The Summit Road, which runs around the hill crests to the north and east of Akaroa Harbour, can be reached at one end from Hill Top and at the other by a road which runs up a long spur. This road leaves the main road to Akaroa, just short of

Akaroa itself. Roads radiate down to the outer bays from this summit road.

A round trip can be made by dropping to Okains Bay (which offers good swimming and a quite fascinating museum, described in another article on this page this

week), then taking the road which winds round high above the headlands past Stony Bay, through the tiny settlement of Chorlton, and down into Little Akaloa, past the charming little St Lukes Church, built early in this century. From Little Akaloa a sealed road leads back up to the Summit Road and Hill Top. Perhaps the least visited part of the Peninsula at all is the triangle of country between Hill Top, the outlet to Lake Forsyth, and Timutimu Head at the entrance to Akaroa Harbour. The key to this part of the Peninsula is Bossu Road, which climbs up out of Wainui, on Akaroa Harbour, and runs along the tops before dropping to sea level again at a dead end (for vehicles) at the outlet to Lake Forsyth.

Bossu Road can also be reached from Little River up one of the two roads rising out of the Okuti Valley, where there is a pleasant little scenic reserve. This makes a round trip possible — from Little River, up the Kinloch Road around the Bossu Road, and back to the main road at Barry’s Bay through Wainui.

This more or less exhausts the “round trips” that can be made on the back roads of the Penin-

sula. reopie who do not mind retracing their steps have many more roads to explore. Some run up into enclosed valleys, like the Kaituna Valley Road; others run down spurs or valleys, or wind round headlands from neighbour-' ing bays to the more remote of the outer bays. One of these is the Te Oka Road, which drops down from Bossu Road and gives access to the open Magnet Bay, where surf sometimes rims high; to Tumbledown Bay, a picnic spot for families

that would be difficult to better; and to Te Oka Bay itself. There are many more such roads. Some though, stop short of the sea. Per- , mission should be sought from the nearby farmhouses before you cross private land if you leave your car for a walk, to reach a hill top or bay — which you certainly should do if you are keen to discover the “peculiar charm” of the Peninsula.